FW: [MO-NP] Nonviolent Peaceforce Convening Event Press Release 2

["mc.foto" <mc.foto@libero.it>]

----------
Da: "Nick Mele" <nickmele@attbi.com>
Data: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 12:47:35 -0000
A: MO-NP@yahoogroups.com
Oggetto: [MO-NP] Nonviolent Peaceforce Convening Event Press Release 2

OPPOSITION LEADER ADVOCATES NONVIOLENCE WHILE PROTECTED BY UNARMED
CIVILIANS

"Violence is self-perpetuating and if we look at the many instances
of its use in conflict resolution we have to be sorely disappointed.
Why then is there so much violence all around us?" Sheikh Hasina
asked an assembly of peacemakers from around the world. The former
prime minister of Bangladesh and now the leader of the opposition in
the National Parliament delivered the keynote address at the opening
of the Nonviolent Peaceforce Convening Event outside New Delhi.

Hasina has been a strong supporter of the Nonviolent Peaceforce
since the very inception of the idea. In 2000, while still Prime
Minister, she called on fellow heads of state to form an
international peace force. "Tragically, the need has increased since
then," she said.

For her the threat of violence is very close and immediate. Members
of her party have recently been subject to harassment, arrest,
torture and disappearance.  Sheikh Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur
Rahmn is also considered the father of Bangladesh. He successfully
led his country to independence from Pakistan, only to be murdered a
few short years later along with almost his entire family. Only two
of his daughters, one of them Sheikh Hasina, escaped alive because
they were out of the country.

Protecting Hasina's security nonviolently was the Convening Event's
first challenge in putting theory into practice. Volunteers from the
conference provided Sheikh Hasina with Protective Accompaniment at
all times while she was at the conference site. (Accompaniers
surround vulnerable leaders with round-the-clock international
presence, a proven deterrent to death squads and other human rights
violators.)  The Nonviolent Peaceforce had to negotiate this
privilege from the Indian government, which insisted on sending
armed guards to the nonviolent convention. That only showed how much
work needed to be done to show the world a different way to create
safety. 


 "Each and everyone of us, whether we represent the government, the
civil society, the media or any other sector – must contribute to
the making of a peaceful world," Sheikh Hasina
declared. "Individually and collectively, we must forge a world-wide
grand alliance for peace. This convention makes it obvious that such
an alliance is on its way for establishment of a culture of peace."



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